UPDATE 1-Market Chatter-Corporate finance press digest

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

(Adds Prelios)

Nov 28 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media:

* German power utility E.ON SE is on the brink of a deal to sell its Spanish operations for 2.5 billion euros ($3.12 billion) to Australian infrastructure investor Macquarie Group Ltd and a Kuwaiti state fund, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Italian property firm Prelios and U.S. asset manager Fortress have made “an important step forward” in talks with UniCredit to buy the Italian bank’s bad loan unit UCCMB, one source close to the matter said on Thursday.

* European private equity house Apax is nearing the target on its $300 million Israeli mid-market fund and is expected to hold a so-called “first close” next week, allowing it to start investing, a source familiar with the matter said.

* Indonesia’s Lion Group is expected to sign a deal on Thursday to buy about 40 ATR 72-600 aircraft for nearly $1 billion at list prices, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

* Australian online clothing retailer SurfStitch aims to sell shares in a Sydney stock exchange listing that will give it an overall market value of A$218 million ($186 million), a source told Reuters.

* Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of Britain’s fourth largest mobile operator 3 Group, is preparing a bid for EE or O2, the mobile groups already in talks on a deal with BT Group , several sources familiar with the matter said.

* Technology firm Insigma has teamed up with another Chinese company to try to buy Finmeccanica’s rail assets, two people familiar with the matter said, a move that could thwart a rival bid from Hitachi.

* Airbus Group and Dassault Aviation aim to oversee the complete sale of Airbus’s 4.8 billion-euro stake in the French planemaker by the end of next year, two people familiar with the matter said.

* State-owned conglomerate Dubai World will meet with its creditors next week to formally present revisions to its multi-billion-dollar debt restructuring terms, three sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.